Shelydon Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 Has anyone's teen used sprirolactone for acne? My DD dermatologist prescribed this, and her skin is the worst it has ever been one month into treatment. I've called her dermatologist, but she won't see her until 3 months of treatment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelydon Posted December 8, 2020 Author Share Posted December 8, 2020 4 minutes ago, Seasider too said: That’s an interesting application of that drug. I’ve thought of it as an older person’s remedy as a diuretic for heart failure issues. Sorry I can’t speak to it’s efficacy as an acne treatment but it seems odd to me. Hope others can help. Yes, it was originally a blood pressure medication, but now it primarily used for acne is female patients Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 I'm not familiar with that treatment, but could it be purging? That's a fairly common phenomenon with new or especially strong treatments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wathe Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 It's used off-label for female acne - it's an androgen receptor blocker- as a type of hormone therapy. It's also used off-label for hirsutism and transgender M2F hormone therapy. It can have lots of side effects (hyperkalemia being the most serious). Its hormonal side-effects include decreased body hair, gynecomastia, etc- generally feminizing the body. I've not heard of acne as a side-effect, though I have heard of other rashes (chloasma, and drug allergy type rashes) I still see it used mostly for cirrhosis and heart failure. It's not commonly used for acne treatment here (Canada) - I see more OCP, antibiotics, accutane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelydon Posted December 8, 2020 Author Share Posted December 8, 2020 55 minutes ago, alisoncooks said: I'm not familiar with that treatment, but could it be purging? That's a fairly common phenomenon with new or especially strong treatments. Spirolactone is not supposed to have that side effect. We are just about ready to give up on treatment. Everything we try seems to fail. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelydon Posted December 8, 2020 Author Share Posted December 8, 2020 48 minutes ago, wathe said: It's used off-label for female acne - it's an androgen receptor blocker- as a type of hormone therapy. It's also used off-label for hirsutism and transgender M2F hormone therapy. It can have lots of side effects (hyperkalemia being the most serious). Its hormonal side-effects include decreased body hair, gynecomastia, etc- generally feminizing the body. I've not heard of acne as a side-effect, though I have heard of other rashes (chloasma, and drug allergy type rashes) I still see it used mostly for cirrhosis and heart failure. It's not commonly used for acne treatment here (Canada) - I see more OCP, antibiotics, accutane. We tried antibiotics and several topicals. She is not willing to jump through the hoops required for accutane, so the doctor recommended spirolactone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellen Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 Are you certain it's not fungal acne? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelydon Posted December 9, 2020 Author Share Posted December 9, 2020 5 hours ago, hellen said: Are you certain it's not fungal acne? No, I'm not, but after reading a description, the acne is not itchy, so I think it is regular acne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristin0713 Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 I had terrible side effects with spironolactone and it didn’t help my acne. The topical that worked for me the best was proactive (as a teen) and proactive md as an adult. I tried so many treatments as well. BCPs (which worked, but eventually I didn’t want the hormones), antibiotics (worked for a short time and then became ineffective) and I started Accutane but had to stop because of side effects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Tiggywinkle Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 (edited) Aldactone was the only thing that takes care of my acne. I’m 39 and still get acne if I go off it. It took about 2-3 months to become effective IIRC. I’ve been on it over a decade, though it was first prescribed to me as a testosterone blocker as I have PCOS. Edited December 9, 2020 by Mrs Tiggywinkle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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